“We envision the dual degree program as one that will allow students to embrace the Anabaptist mission and vision that EMU espouses while also obtaining the training needed to put their skills to work as an engineer,” said Deirdre Smeltzer, PhD, chair of mathematical sciences (pictured, middle-left). Photo by Cody Troyer.

EMU and Catholic Do Joint Engineering Program

May 14, 2012Last updated June 5, 2012 by Mike Zucconi

Eastern Mennonite University (EMU) has partnered with Catholic University of America (CUA) for a new dual degree program that will prepare students to pursue peacebuilding and sustainability through engineering.

“We envision the dual degree program as one that will allow students to embrace the Anabaptist mission and vision that EMU espouses while also obtaining the training needed to put their skills to work as an engineer,” said Deirdre Smeltzer, PhD, chair of mathematical sciences.

The program commences in the fall of 2012.

Students will spend two years at EMU, immersed in calculus, physics and introductory science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) courses.

In the fall of the third year, students will transition to EMU’s Washington Community Scholars’ Center in Washington, D.C., fulfilling their cross-cultural requirement and gaining internship experience and valuable STEM training, according to Smeltzer.

“Then, in the spring of the third year, students will transfer to CUA and spend two years completing additional requirements,” Smeltzer said.

Nancy Heisey, academic dean at EMU, said she is excited about bringing together “the best gifts of EMU’s liberal arts curriculum with the high quality engineering training offered by CUA.”

Upon completion, students will emerge with bachelor’s degrees from both EMU and CUA.

Jake Bontrager-Singer, a first-year mathematics major from Goshen, Ind., said the pre-engineering classes he’s taken have given him “a level of understanding the material you cannot get from a large lecture. In addition, all my classes are interconnected and build on each other giving me the essentials in math, physics and chemistry that I need to advance.”